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CHICAGO 






ilurnmg of tl)e Uroquots 



DENNIS W. McKENNA 




Price 25 cents. Copy mailed anywhere in United States or 

Canada on receipt of price. Address ' ' Tiie Author," 

922 Opera House Block, Chicago 



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Two Copisa Secaived 

I iVlAR 18 1904 

CLASS '^ XXc^No, 

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Copyright 1904 

BY 

DENNIS W. McKENNA 



PRESS OP HOLLISTER BROTHERS, CHICAGO 



HE author in presenting 
this poem to the public 
asks its careful perusal 
and just criticism; feel- 
ing assured that the readers 
thereof will be inspired to nobler 
qualities and loftier aspirations, 
and have charity and love for the 
friends of those mortals the clos- 
ing of whose lives was so untimely. 
This poem is solemnly dedi- 
cated to those persons who are 
sorrowing over the loss of their 
arisen friends; hoping that its 
perusal will impart consolation 
and wisdom. 

Yours with sympathy and love, 
The Author. 




iHurnins ot t\)t Sroquots 



'M4 



ARK ! Hark ! the ringing of those bells ; 
It sounds like tolling of the knells ; 

The Iroquois is all on fire. 
Yes ! Yes ! 'tis true that human life 
Is struggling in a fearful strife; 
With agony the hour is rife 

Within this fearful, dreadful pyre. 



HAT is that shrieking that I hear? 
What is that noise that seems so drear, 

So weird, so harsh, so full of ill? 
From house of song, and mirth, and joy, 
It comes again with deafening cry ; 
Cremation in the Iroquois ! 

Six hundred human hearts are still. 



EE ! See! yon fire. Oh! hear the moans; 
Hark ! Listen to the dying groans 

Of hundreds that we cannot save. 
Hush, nature, hush, oh! kindly deal; 
These freezing chills that o'er me steal. 
Are too severe, are all too real; 

They forebode pictures of the grave. 



/t^H ! see the bursting of the flames, 
^^ Oh ! hear the calHng of those names, 

Those sacred names, so free from stain. 
We knew that friends within were dying, 
We heard the echo of their crying, 
We knew that human forms were lying, 
In fearful agony and pain. 

A^H! sickening sight; oh! breaking heart; 
^^Take 'way this pain, this piercing dart. 
Relieve this pressure on my brain. 
Blot out the vision of that scene. 
Paint fairer pictures, more serene. 
Take all the shadows from the screen. 
Blot out, wipe out this fearful pain. 



OD in heaven in mercy stay, 
God, we implore Thee, we all pray 

Have mercy on this darkened doom. 
God! O God! see thy children kneel. 
Let holy reverence o'er them steal, 
Let our dark lives your luster feel. 

Shed radiance now above this gloom. 



H! the horror of thus dying; 
Oh ! the shrieking and the crying, 

Of this darkening, fearful hell. 
Oh ! scene of anguish, grief and groans. 
Oh! feel the horror of their moans. 
And the imploring, frenzied tones. 

No mortal tongue nor pen can tell. 



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IX hundred lives have passed away, 
Poor, poor dumb forms of human clay; 

Cold, cold in death, your palls are spread. 
These forms here were all ambition. 
Good true hearts without sedition ; 
Gaze thou on for recognition. 

Gaze, calmly gaze, reclaim thy dead. 



EACH, peace on earth, oh ! peace serene. 
There is no peace upon this scene, 

Except, except in realms above. 
Death! death! thou tyrant of this earth, 
Why didst thou take this mortal worth? 
Why dost demand this fullest berth ? 

Can this be thine eternal love? 



if; 






'ATHER ! breathe a silent prayer, 
For death is lurking in your lair; 

Your days are numbered here and now. 
Oh, answer give to Him today ! 
You must with life your homage pay. 
And cross the dark and silent way, 

Oh ! silent lips ! oh ! dead cold brow. 



IFE, now your ties on earth are o'er, 
Pass, pass to that eternal shore; 

He calls you there who knoweth best. 
Soon on your coffin will be spread 
The last sad tokens of the dead; 
Soon will the parting tears be shed. 

Soon in the grave thy form will rest. 



5[^BAR sisters, brothers, children, all 
•^^Go answer now this fearful call; 

From out this house of mirth and joy 
Make ready for the final fray. 
Make ready for the parting way ; 
Horror-stricken, yet many pray, 
Their parting breath a holy sigh. 



H lover ! say your last good-bye. 
This hour and here, your earthly tie 

You must now prepare to sever. 
No matter if the parting strain. 
Cause saddest, deepest human pain ; 
A broken heart, a funeral train. 

You must say good-bye forever. 



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HE orphan's tear, the parent's grief, 
For loved ones gone bring some relief ; 

Oh ! lover, you whose every sigh 
For loved one gone, cause deepest pain, 
The breaking heart, the burning brain, 
The lover's song bring poor refrain, 

Poor darling one, good-bye, good-bye. 



OD, in Thy mercy, kindly deal, 
Let fairest fancies o'er us steal. 

Let nature now her raiment spread ; 
Let beating hearts now beat no more. 
Sail on, sail on ! the other shore 
Will soon be reached through human gore. 

All! All! are numbered with the dead. 



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AIR queen of heaven, in justice now, 
Kiss off the death damp from the brow 

Of those who gave their lives today. 
Lead, loving mother to the light 
These new born spirits of that night, 
To that fair realm forever bright, 

Kind loving mother, lead the way. 



HY children will their mother need, 
In this dark hour your lessons heed; 

Forgive them, if they e'er did wrong. 
Teach them the lessons they should learn. 
For breaking hearts on earth do yearn 
Above the broken flower and fern, 

All praise thee here with holy song. 

^TTEACH them the lessons of good cheer, 
^^ Teach them the closing of the year 
Was not so dark, so full of gloom; 
Show them the world of greater joy, 
That earth life here was most alloy; 
The breaking heart, the human sigh. 
Were only steps to brighter tomb. 

OW, heavenly parent, kindly heed 
Those dear ones left, for they will need 

Your loving kindness here to-day. 
They need your guidance here and now; 
They need your kiss upon their brow. 
Smooth sailing boat of silver prow, 

To sail them o'er life's ruffled bay. 



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HE hearse, the coffin, and the bier. 
The last sad rites, the silent tear. 

We shed above their mortal clay. 
With aching hearts and sorrowing cry, 
These cold, dead forms we bid good-bye; 
Then look aloft in fairer sky. 

To meet again in brighter day. 



AZE on these forms for recognition, 
This sudden closing of their mission 

Has caused your heart the deepest pain. 
In life there was no truer friend, 
In death their energies they bend, 
A loving messenger to send 

From higher life all free from stain. 

*^lpWILI< be your joy, your friends gone o'er, 
^^To meet again on kinder shore. 

Regardless of your man-made creeds; 
In higher, fairer, lovelier clime, 
Where all mankind will reach its prime. 
Where good acts done build more sublime; 
Where all mankind are judged by deeds. 



^fpHERE is no narrowing of the way, 
^^ There is no darkening of the day, 

There is no endless, darkened doom. 
'Tis true that man his debt must pay; 
'Tis true he climbs by justice's way 
To realms above, to better day, 
, To holier, brighter, purer tomb. 



j?!^EAR ones, loved ones, who are grieving, 
'^^Know ye, 'tis your friends receiving 

Much greater pleasure o'er the way. 
You have told this oft-told story, 
How their crossing seemed so gory; 
They are crowned with greater glory, 
They have passed to grander day. 

^fpHEN with life again beginning, 
^''^In that world there is no sinning, 
Just only hope, and joy, and love. 
Coming to their loved ones nearer, 
Breaking hearts are ever dearer, 
Earthly friends are far sincerer. 
To spirit friends in realms above. 

^fpHESE blossoms from the other shore, 
^^Will bloom in realms forever more. 

Beyond, beyond this earthly sphere; 
With higher life with angels blend. 
Where purest thoughts like essence lend 
Enchantment to your spirit friend 
Above, beyond the darkened bier. 



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hh hallowed ties are broken here. 
Your silent prayer, your parting tear, 

Is all the aid you can employ. 
Go, earth friends, tell this saddened tale. 
Your kind thoughts floating on the gale 
Will help to pierce the narrow veil 

To spirit realms your friends enjoy. 



OU can get light from out this gloom, 
Yes, Knowledge creeps from out the tomb 

Of loved ones called to higher life. 
Oh, glad they come to you today ; 
Please, loving ones, prepare the way. 
Get knowledge through the silent clay, 

Of life beyond all human strife. 



4^0 one who witnessed the sad scene, 
'^'^Who saw those pictures on the screen, 
Can e'er forget till dying day. 
The fearful agony and gloom. 
The burning, seething, writhing tomb. 
The lurid, horrid, frightful doom, 
That led across the darkened way. 



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IND nature, now please drop your pall, 
Shut out this gloom from each and all. 

In reverence now, with silent tread; 
Drive off, drive off this darkened gloom. 
Lift up the shadows from the tomb. 
Let saddened friends with hope illume, 

Paint radiant pictures of the dead. 



ANKIND, please pause while gazing here; 
Yes, think of lives so true, and dear; 

Kind loving ones you could not save. 
O, would to God that you and I, 
Might paint a groan, a dying sigh 
Across the front of Iroquois, 

To teach the lesson of the grave. 



RAND, gloomy now, with silent mien, 
Gaze, stranger, gaze upon this scene, 

This marching army of the dead. 
Bare thy sad brow, with reverence bow. 
Remember this eternal now, 
No matter when, or where, or how. 

Some day this pathway you must tread. 



/JQH, sad, cold, cruel, bleak December! 
^^The death glow of your dying ember, 
This year of nineteen hundred three. 
Will ever bring, with sorrowing gloom, 
The memories of this saddened tomb, 
Till nature lifts the pall of doom 
Above this dark and silent sea. 



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OW, sunlight, screen your waning light, 
Close down the picture of this night. 

Shed darkness here above this gloom. 
Why must the road be sometimes dark? 
Must man sail on with silent bark? 
Why not the carol of the lark 

Stand victor o'er the silent tomb? 



NKIND thou wast, O sad old year, 
With sorrow thus to cloud the cheer, 

To close the pages of the past. 
Oh, sad New Year, from many a heart! 
Oh, broken ties! why must we part? 
Oh, grief intense! Oh, breaking heart! 

Will pain and anguish ever last? 



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ROQUOIS, O thy dreadful tomb! 
Iroquois, O what darkened doom 

Will ever now that name present! 
O, sullied name, you lured with joy, 
All, all thou held'st was pure alloy, 
The parting scene, the dying- cry, 

A mockery of merriment. 



OOR maimed ones of this holocaust, 
Your lots are hardest, so unjust; 

You must go on with sorrowing mien. 
Your mind will wander back each day, 
Will think of Bluebeard far away; 
Cold, cruel fate! please pave the way, 

Plant Hope's bright star above the scene. 



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HE writer once was wounded deep, 
His loved ones long had gone to sleep ; 

Their cold, dead forms he laid away. 
O friends, the darkness and the gloom ! 
O God, the sadness of the tomb. 
The breaking heart could not illume. 

Could not forget the silent clay. 



IND friends on earth, please kindly give 
To those that here still with us live. 

Your sympathy and love to-day; 
Lift up your thoughts to higher sphere* 
Lift up the sting of grief, the tear ; 
Lift up the sadness from the bier; 

Prepare, prepare the golden way. 



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IND friends, look up with reverence here, 
Make sacred vow above their bier, 

To lead a life all pure and bright, 
With deeds of love for all mankind; 
Assist the halt, the maimed, and blind, 
Dry orphan's tears, relieve the mind; 

'Twill crown your life with golden light. 



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EACE, peace on earth, good will to men. 
Will soon resound on earth again, 

Thy tears be shed, thy prayers be said ; 
With quivering lips this tale be told 
Of her or him who is enscrolled 
On tablets white, with purest gold, 

Their names are writ above the dead. 




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